1. Statement of the Technical Field
The inventive arrangements relate to wafer level RF devices and more particularly to radiation devices for microwave and millimeter wave communications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many communication systems operate in high frequency bands. For example, communication systems operating at frequencies as high as 300 GHz are known. Radiation devices, namely antennas, are a necessary element in many such communications system for receiving and transmitting electromagnetic radiation. However, existing antennas for high frequencies (e.g. 10 GHz to 300 GHz) are known to suffer from certain limitations. For example conventional antennas designed for such frequencies are often based on thin film technology. Such designs tend to have relatively low power handling capability. Moreover, thin film designs with a relatively poor impedance match to transceiver circuitry may require additional matching networks can be needed for device optimization.
Three-dimensional microstructures can be formed by utilizing sequential build processes. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,012,489 and 7,898,356 describe methods for fabricating coaxial waveguide microstructures. These processes provide an alternative to traditional thin film technology, but also present new design challenges pertaining to their effective utilization for advantageous implementation of various RF devices.